BRIGHAM YOUNG AND HIS MORMON EMPIREBy Frank J. Cannon and George L. Knapp Copyright 1913, by FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY CHAPTER 8 THE GLORY OF MANY WIVES DURING the sojourn at Nauvoo, the bestknown feature of the new religion was made known to the church -- or at least to a few of its members. This is the doctrine of polygamy. From the hour that polygamy became a recognized part of Mormonism, it has almost monopolized Gentile discussion of that creed; and today, when the religion of Joseph Smith is mentioned, the responding thought in the mind of nearly every hearer is plurality of wives. The present writers consider this tenet merely one of several which make the Mormon church a thing apart; but it is an important one, and well worthy of careful study. Mormon polygamy cannot be understood, except in connection with the doctrine of "celestial marriage," of which plurality of wives is a part. Mormonism is ancestor worship. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, salvation depends not upon faith, but upon offspring. The following summary of the doctrine of "celestial marriage" is as nearly exact as any statement can be made on a subject with which theologians are yet busy.
The revelation establishing polygamy is dated at Nauvoo, July 12, 1843. This, however, is merely the date on which this peculiar word of the Lord was reduced to writing, not the time at which it was first made known. Joseph F. Smith, present head of the Mormon church, and nephew of the prophet, declares that the original revelation on polygamy was given to his inspired uncle about the year 1831. At about that date, Joseph often remarked that the brethren would take his life if he dared to tell them the new truths which God was making plain unto him. This may mean that he was already incubating the scheme of polygamy, or it may mean only that Joseph thought this mysterious phrase would sound well, and help to keep his followers in awe. His patter was as ready and clever as that of an experienced conjurer, and often had about as much connection with the matter in hand. There is good ground for believing that the practice of polygamy began at Kirtland. The charge was freely circulated against the Saints in that region; and -- unlike such a commonplace matter as horsestealing -- it is not the kind of accusation that jealous neighbours would be likely to invent. In 1835, the church put forth at Kirtland a formal denial of polygamy; itself rather suspicious in the light of recent events. Two years later, April 29, 1837, the presidents of Seventies passed a resolution that they would not hold fellowship with any elder who was guilty of polygamy. This would imply that some elders were admittedly guilty of polygamous practices at this time, unless we make the rather far-fetched assumption that the high-sounding term of "polygamy" was applied to chance cases of sexual irregularity. The more important parts of the revelation are as follows:
Taken by itself the revelation seems wordy and involved. By comparison with many other revelations, it is clear and concise, and bears unconscious witness that Smith had it in mind long before he reduced it to paper. The pains taken to bring the prophet's wife, -- Emma Hale Smith, -- into line are noticeable and amusing. What prompted Smith to make this strange departure from the accepted traditions, laws, and ideals of the country in which he lived, and of all other countries from which even a shred of his ancestral blood was derived? The question is inevitable, but an authoritative answer is wanted -- unless we are ready to accept his own explanation of direct revelation from God. New creeds are habitually fruitful in sexual vagaries; but these commonly run towards celibacy, rather than to greater license. The defences of a custom given by Mormon theologues are excuses after the fact. The plea that polygamy is necessary to give every woman a chance to fulfil her undoubted right of wifehood and motherhood might be urged with some show of reason in England or Massachusetts today; but it did not apply in the pioneer communities of the Mississippi valley. Probably Smith never lived in a settlement where there was not a surplus of men, rather than of women. Did he put forward this revelation merely to condone and legalize his own peccadilloes? Mohammed had a matrimonial sudra after being caught in a compromising position. Did Joseph, all unconsciously, follow this august example? His life needed some such endorsement; verses 52 and 56 of the document quoted above give evidence that his practice of polygamy antedated the revelation. A "new and everlasting" marriage covenant which entitled the prophet to do as he pleased would be quite handy under such circumstances. One suppositious explanation may be put forward for what it is worth. Like all other creeds in modern times, Mormonism was more successful in appealing to women than to men. While males outnumber females in most American communities, the proportions of the sexes are reversed in practically every church. A system of church-limited polygamy would utilize this wealth of potential motherhood, with no danger of the offspring being led astray by an heretic father. This consideration undoubtedly appealed to Brigham Young and to some of his counsellors in Utah; but there is no reason to assert that it had any weight with Smith. Most of his recorded approaches were to women already married. The first of these was the wife of one of the Twelve Apostles, a handsome woman whom Smith seems to have coveted before her marriage. He had enjoined the Apostle against marrying her, and found that even a prophet's advice does not count for much in matrimonial affairs. In 1840 this Apostle was sent on a mission which kept him away for more than a year, and during his absence, Joseph took the woman as his " spiritual wife." This means that she was to be Joseph's wife in the next world? though the wife of another man in this. This was Joseph's first authenticated adventure in spiritual wifery. Others followed not much later He informed John Taylor that the Lord had given Mrs. Taylor to Joseph for his spiritual wife in the next world. Taylor and his wife united in strenuous protest, and the protest, and the prophet laughingly said that he was only testing their faith and love. He gave a similar explanation of his pursuit of the daughter of Sidney Rigdon -- but it is not of record that he made any such advances in the household of Brigham Young. Mormon tradition has it that Joseph was sealed to twenty-seven wives before his death in Carthage jail. How many of these sustained marital relations with him is a question. The marriage ceremony for spiritual weddings differs not at all from that for marriages to be consummated on earth; and there was nothing to keep the persons so united from anticipating the heavenly nuptials. The matter is shrouded with uncertainty now because it was covered with secrecy during the prophet's lifetime. The reasons for this secrecy are not far to seek. The mere rumour of polygamy had been cited as a grave offence, which the prophet found it necessary to repudiate. The formal announcement of such a doctrine would have precipitated disaster. It is probable that even Smith was equal to that much prevision, and certainly there were men around him not wholly lost in prophetic ecstasy. Another and almost as compelling a reason is to be found in Smith's awe of his legal wife. Emma Hale Smith was a woman of considerable intelligence, decided firmness of character, and excellent conversational powers. She had loved Joseph in his vagabond youth, and she never lost her fondness for him. She had shared his wanderings and his hardships, she had acted as his amanuensis, she knew to the last decimal the sort of clay of which her prophet was made. This did not keep her from attaching a certain importance to his revelations, but it did lead her to scrutinize them rather carefully. When the revelation on plural marriage was at last written down, some one said it must be shown to Emma. Joseph, with one of the few gleams of real humour displayed in his whole lifetime, said: "Hyrum, you take it to her!" Hyrum obeyed. The story is that Emma snatched the manuscript from his hand, threw it into the fire, and wrathfully declared it was a revelation from the devil, not from God. In spite of Emma's opposition, polygamy was practised; and she must have known it. Very possibly her knowledge was moral certainty, rather than legal proof; and she was willing to have it so. There is little basis for the church claim that Emma formally gave several women to be "sealed" to her husband as his plural wives. The truth rather seems to be that she endured what she could not cure, and pretended not to see things that she could not sanction. At one time, indeed, Emma made vigorous war on plural marriages. She forced Joseph publicly to repudiate the doctrine, and she procured the publication of a card signed by several women, alleging that there was no such thing as polygamy among Latter Day Saints. At the moment this card was published, Eliza R. Snow, one of the signers, was the plural wife of Joseph Smith. This illustrates the practice which began probably at Kirtland, certainly as early as Nauvoo; the custom of systematic lying for the glory of God and the safety of the Saints. From that day to this, Mormons periodically have denied polygamy in the most solemn language, only to admit it the moment such admission was deemed safe, or politic, or unavoidable. In 1850, at Boulogne-sur-mer, John Taylor denounced as a monstrous lie the tale that the Saints practised polygamy. John Taylor at that moment was the husband of four wives, some of whom had already borne children to him. Admissions of polygamy from Mormons may be accepted as good evidence, for they have never been found to admit any cases that were not true. But denials of polygamy by Mormons mean only that the church authorities think denial good policy for the moment. After Joseph's death, Emma declared and later taught her son that the prophet had not established, taught, or practised polygamy, that this was the invention of Brigham Young or of John C. Bennett. In view of the family tradition that the original revelation was given in 1831, of the stories in circulation at Kirtland, of the positive testimony of many women that they were married to Joseph Smith as his plural wives, and of a world of collateral testimony, Emma's denial -- however natural -- deserves no more than this passing notice. Polygamy made the Mormon church a thing apart socially, as its despotic prophet set it apart in religious and political matters. It is perhaps one cause of the comparative failure of the church as a proselyting agency. It has brought manifold suffering on the Saints, and it was the direct occasion of the prophet's death. But it has never been abandoned. At times it has been repressed; at times it has been held in abeyance; and even a revelation was published recalling God's mistake in giving this covenant to a sinful world -- but the covenant goes on. The present head of the church has at least five known plural wives and forty-three children -- twelve of whom were born to him after he pledged his honour to abstain from plural marriage living. As despotic, as tenacious, and on occasion as secretive as its prototype of Arabia, Mormonism remains an unsolved riddle, and maintains an unassimilated polygamous principality in the heart of the American republic.
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